Burning Fat: Why Dieting and Working Out May Not Be Enough

Regular exercise and a healthy diet have long been the doctor's orders when trying to achieve a fit body. It sounds simple enough, but there are other factors at play that make fat loss a challenging and complicated goal. For instance, there is the dreaded "weight loss plateau." As explained by Dulloo (1993) in his paper on obesity management, your body reacts to reduced food intake and weight loss by slowing down its metabolism. This energy- sparing mechanism (adaptive thermogenesis) explains why you suddenly stop losing weight after a few weeks of following a diet and workout regimen.

This table published in the British Journal of Nutrition (van Baak 2004) illustrates how adaptive thermogenesis works.

Adaptive thermogenesis serves to help our bodies store energy. When we reduce food intake and lose lean body mass, the body defends itself by decreasing energy expenditure (Dulloo 1993). This is why we start to burn fewer calories after a few weeks of working out— even though we exercise at the same intensity level. This decreased thermogenesis can make it difficult to get rid of stubborn fat and it may even lead to regaining lost weight.

Enhancing Fat Loss with Supplements: Thermogenics vs. Lipothermics

Thermogenics: The Old School Supplement

For many years now, thermogenic supplements have been used by millions of athletes, bodybuilders and health-conscious individuals around the world. Thermogenics claims to increase the body's core temperature, thereby speeding up the metabolic rate which results in the body burning more fat (Clapham 2007).

Thermogenic supplements usually contain fat-burning ingredients such as chili pepper, synephrine, and green tea extracts. One of the most popular thermogenic ingredients is ephedra (from the plant Ephedra sinica). Ephedra is a stimulant that could expand bronchial tubes (to make breathing easier) and increase body heat, thereby increasing metabolism (Gurley, Wang and Gardner 1998).

Ephedra became a popular ingredient since it was proven to be effective in aiding weight loss, especially when combined with caffeine. In a recent study (Boozer et al 2002), it was found that subjects who were given a herbal treatment of ephedra and caffeine during a period of 6 months significantly lost more weight than subjects who were only given placebos.

However, in 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of ephedra- containing supplements. The FDA came to this decision after a comprehensive study of cases reporting adverse side effects and even deaths caused by the stimulant. The number of these complaints had been rising steadily since the late 1990s.

Ephedra-Free Thermogenics

After FDA imposed the ban, manufacturers scrambled to produce "ephedra-free" fat burners. Ingredients in these ephedra-free supplements included the usual stimulants such as caffeine, green tea, and yohimbine. Many of these manufacturers claimed that this new class of ephedra-free fat burners was even more powerful than the ephedra-based ones, but research would indicate that this was all indeed a lie.

Caffeine, for instance, is a popular ingredient in these ephedra-free thermogenic supplements. In a 1992 study by Spriet and colleagues, it was found that indeed, caffeine increases fat oxidation and decreases the breakdown of glycogen, but not all of the fat oxidized is burned (Astorin et al 2011). In other words, caffeine is not a very effective thermogenic, but it does decrease glycogenolysis, helping the body use more energy from fat instead of carbohydrates during exercise.

Yohimbine, another popular ingredient in thermogenic supplements, is also known for its fat-oxidizing properties. Unfortunately, its lipid-mobilizing effects are negated when administered during or after a meal (Galitzky et al 1988).

In other words, most of these ephedra-free thermogenics are mild stimulants at best, but they are not powerful enough to help your body burn more fat.

Lipothermics: Compounds That Help You Burn More Calories from Fat during Exercise

In their mission to provide cutting-edge supplements, PharmaGenx is constantly involved in the research and formulation of new products. Working with doctors and athletes, PharmaGenx discovered the science of lipothermics.

Lipothermics is a new class of fat-burning compounds that trigger a shift in energy usage, causing the body to burn more calories from fat instead of carbohydrates during exercise. This decreases muscle breakdown and it helps your body save glucose to give you more endurance and stamina.

As explained by Brooks (2000) in his book Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Applications, the body expends energy by breaking down adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a chemical stored in our muscle cells.

The human body uses three types of energy systems to rebuild ATP: the phosphogen system, the anaerobic system and the aerobic system. This table shows the characteristics of each energy system.

Lipothermics works by repartitioning your body's energy usage during exercise, taking it quickly to the aerobic level where there is more lipid oxidation and your body uses more fuel from fat instead of muscle.

This table summarizes the difference between old-school thermogenics and the new class of energy-repartitioning Lipothermics.

VentileanRx: The Lipothermic Fat Burner

PharmaGenx has a registered trademark on Lipothermic and uses this new class of compounds to create VentileanRx—a highly concentrated liquid solution that carries the VYCE stack.

The VYCE stack is a well-balanced combination of four potent ingredients—vinpocetine, yohimbine, caffeine and EGCG. Although most of these ingredients can be found in other thermogenic supplements, what makes these ingredients especially powerful in VentileanRX is PharmaGenx's proprietary technology that solubilizes the nutrients of the ingredients into a super concentrated solution that can be quickly delivered in a micro dose (2.5 ml).

The powerful Lipothermic compounds in the VYCE stack will enable the body to experience the following benefits:

Burn up to 107% more energy during workouts

Increased and prolonged after burn (continue to burn calories for the rest of the day after exercising)

Energy repartition: While exercising, your body can quickly reach the aerobic level where you burn more calories from fat, not muscle.

In a study on the effects of vinpocetine in chronic ischemic stroke patients (Szilyagi et al 2005) using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), it was found that vinpocetine improved cerebral blood flow up to 37% in the contralateral side of the brain and up to 33% in the affected side.

Vinpocetine is an important ingredient in VentileanRX because it counteracts caffeine's negative side effects. Caffeine reduces cerebral blood flow, which could lead to an energy crash. Vinpocetine tempers caffeine's limiting effects and ensures that all four ingredients in the VYCE stack work harmoniously together.

In this table taken from a research paper on Yohimbine as an alpha-2 antagonist (Lafontan et al 1992), it clearly shows that Yohimbine promoted an increase in NEFAs (nonesterified fatty acids) and noradrenaline levels in ten fasting obese women(compared to those who only took placebos).

Based on the findings of this study, yohimbine improves fat mobilization, helping the body access its fat reserves for fuel, instead of using energy from carbohydrates.

CAFFEINE increases the body's metabolic rate. Previous research by Astrup (1990) revealed that caffeine promotes thermogenesis (fat burning) and lipolysis (fat mobilization). This table from a research paper on the metabolic effects of caffeine (Acheson et al 2004) illustrates the increased lipid turnover and oxidation in research subjects who took caffeine instead of a placebo.

Another study on caffeine (Spriet et al 1992) also shows that caffeine decreases glycogenolysis (the breakdown of glycogen) during exercise, thereby increasing its endurance during workouts. This table from Spriet and his colleagues' research shows caffeine's glycogen-sparing effects.

In this experiment, eight subjects were asked to cycle until they were exhausted. It was discovered that muscle glycogen content was higher among subjects during exercise after they had ingested caffeine (compared to the effects of a placebo). Seven out of eight subjects also increased their cycling time before reaching exhaustion after ingesting caffeine.

EPIGALLOCATECHIN GALLATE (EGCG) According to a study by Dulloo, Duret and Rohrer (1999), green tea (which has high EGCG levels) has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation. In this study, Dulloo and his colleagues measured the effects of EGCG on the 24-hour energy expenditure (EE) and fat oxidation levels in 10 healthy men. The table below clearly indicates that fat oxidation was significantly higher in subjects who were treated with green tea extract compared to those who took caffeine or a placebo.

As explained in previous paragraphs, Caffeine, Yohimbine and EGCG are three powerful fat oxidizers. They also act as stimulants that give you the burst of energy you need to endure intensive workouts. Vinpocetine tempers caffeine's limiting effects (reduced myocardial and cerebral blood flow) and ensures that all four ingredients work harmoniously together.

The VYCE stack combined with the energy-repartitioning properties of LIPOTHERMICS gives you 107% more calorie- burning power compared to thermogenic supplements.

The VentileanRx Lipothermic Stimulant comes in a highly concentrated liquid form. Its main ingredients (the VYCE stack) are already solubilized, making them easily absorbed by the body. The Physicians' Desk Reference shows a table which illustrates how the delivery system of a drug or supplement affects its ability to be easily absorbed by the human body.

The Physicians' Desk Reference reports that 85 percent to 90 percent of nutrients in liquid supplements are absorbed by the body in 27 to 30 seconds. Since VentileanRx is a super concentrated liquid, the onset of effects will certainly be much quicker compared to taking capsules or tablets (which takes the body 20-30 minutes to break down before assimilation occurs).

More than just the VYCE stack, VentileanRx also contains other health-enhancing nutrients (as shown on the product label):

Because VentileanRx is highly concentrated, only small doses of 2 to 5 ml are needed to create a rapid onset of action in the body.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and with good reason. HIIT reportedly gives great results with a mere 15 minutes of training three times a week. It definitely sounds like the perfect exercise program for people with busy schedules—but first, let's take a look at how HIIT compares to traditional cardio training.

While HIIT takes less time, it certainly requires more energy. ACE-certified fitness expert Dean Anderson[24] explains that those short bursts of intense exercise briefly pushes you beyond the upper end of your aerobic exercise zone. This gives you several advantages that traditional cardio training can't offer:

HIIT conditions both your anaerobic and aerobic energy systems

You burn more calories during and after your workout because HIIT increases the length of time it takes your body to recover from each exercise session

HIIT helps your body use more fat than carbohydrates for fuel

Anderson's explanations are supported by the results of a study (Trapp et al 2008) published in the International Journal of Obesity. In this experiment, 45 young women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: HIEE (High Intensity Intermittent Exercise), Steady-State Exercise (SSE) and a control group who maintained their usual physical activity levels and dietary habits throughout the experimental period.

The table below clearly shows that the women who underwent 15 weeks of HIEE experienced greater reduction in total body mass compared to the SSE and control groups.

Because HIIT is physically demanding, it's not recommended as a daily workout. Three times a week is ideal. A smart training schedule should give your body adequate time to recover.

HIIT and the VentileanRx Lipothermic Stimulant: A Powerful Combination

As explained in previous paragraphs, HIIT pushes your body's aerobic system to maximum levels. This helps you burn more calories from fat.

However, while your body is warming up at the beginning of your workout (and also during recovery periods), you are using energy from your anaerobic system. At the anaerobic level, you are burning calories from a larger percentage of carbohydrates (glucose) instead of fat. As much as possible, you need to spare your glucose levels to help you perform optimally.

The calorie-burning power of HIIT combined with the metabolism-boosting effects of the lipothermic compounds in VentileanRx results in effective fat loss while maintaining healthy muscle mass.

As an added bonus, VentileanRx's lipothermic system also increases the body's EPOC, resulting in more calories burned after your workout session.

Lipothermics Are The Future Of Fat Loss

VentileanRx uses PharmaGenx's proprietary lipothermic system to deliver powerful ingredients that aid in effective fat-burning. If you would like to know more about the power of lipothermics, get in touch with the PharmaGenx team today.

Request special pricing and request a sample of VentileanRX right now Click here